Where the Lost are the Heroes(and the Thieves are Left to Drown)
by blackdragonhellfire
Summary: In which Anakin Skywalker never became a Jedi, and Darth Vader wreaks havoc upon the Republic. Takes place during the Clone Wars series. AU.
1. Chapter 1

**Title taken from the amazing song It Has Begun by Starset. Story v** **ery loosely based on the Clone Wars movie novelization, because I didn't really like the movie.** **Characters don't belong to me, otherwise the Clone Wars would still be running. Enjoy!**

* * *

Ahsoka Tano stood in front of the council chamber, nervous. Why had the Jedi Council called her up to their chamber so soon after her test? Had she failed the initiate trial? Was she stuck in the temple for eternity? Did she fail so badly that the Jedi council had decided to kick her out of the order, leaving her to fend for herself on the Coruscant streets?

No, she reassured herself. They wouldn't bother calling her to their chamber over something as small as that.

So why were they calling her? It had to be something important!

Maybe they were calling her up because she was finally getting assigned to a Jedi Master? She really hoped so. Ahsoka had been waiting to become a Padawan for what seemed like forever.

The intercom by the door beeped, and then turned on.

"You may come in, Initiate Tano," Mace Windu said from the other side of the comlink. The door slid open, seemingly beckoning for her to enter.

Ahsoka was really nervous now.

It'll be okay, she reassured herself, they're not gonna eat me. Calm down, Tano. Relax.

She took a deep breath, and stepped inside the council chamber. The gazes of the council members met her like the gazes of a predator to its prey.

Ahsoka stepped into the middle of the room, and then looked at her feet. She could feel the scrutiny of the council members even more than ever now. This really wasn't her day.

"Good afternoon, Little 'soka," said the comforting voice of Master Plo Koon. He had been the one to take her to the temple, after rescuing her from some slavers. Throughout her time at the Jedi temple, Master Plo had always been there for her. And he was here for her now.

"Hello, Master Plo," Ahsoka said, her confidence rising a little. "Masters," she added, bowing to the people and holograms in the room. Some of the council seats were empty, as some of the Masters were busy fighting against the Separatist droid army.

Mace Windu spoke next.

"This is a momentous day for you, Padawan Tano. Are you ready for it?"

Ahsoka's head bobbed up and down, excited. They called her Padawan Tano! She had passed her trials!

She beamed. She was ready for this!

"Yes Masters, " she said, looking Mace Windu in the eye with all the confidence she could muster.

Master Yoda spoke up. "Assigned to General Kenobi, you are."

Ahsoka almost gaped. Assigned? Like General Kenobi had no time to choose her as his padawan?

Who was she to complain? She had finally become a Padawan! At least she had a master!

Master Yoda continued his speech. "Join him on Christophsis, you will. A new mission, you have been assigned."

Ahsoka was instantly curious. A real mission! "What sort of mission?"

"Tell you and Master Kenobi when you arrive at Christophsis, I will." The old jedi master replied.

"Get to the hangar, you should. Be late on your first day, you should not!" He waved his cane for emphasis.

Ahsoka took a step back. "Yes, master! Right away!"

She bowed hastily at the rest of the masters in the council room, and then left the room, excited for the future to come.

* * *

The crystalline buildings of Christophsis rocked under the continuous assault of Blaster fire, from Republic clones and Separatist battle droids alike. Clone corpses and droid scraps lay scattered, surrounded by the rubble of the once beautiful buildings of Christophsis' capital city..

At the Republic stronghold, Jedi General Obi-Wan Kenobi and his clone commander Cody surveyed the situation. It was time to figure out a new strategy against the Separatists, as their current plan wasn't working. The Separatists currently had the upper hand in this battle, and didn't seem to be letting go of it anytime soon.

A clone soldier ran up from the cannon line at the front. He saluted his superiors hastily, and then launched into his report.

"General Kenobi, sir! The lookout says that he sees some sort of ray-shield coming from the separatist base! It's making it impossible for us to fire our cannons at the blasted clankers."

General Kenobi straightened. "Let me see this ray-shield. I may be able to find out a way to disable it."

Cannon fire boomed. Buildings collapsed around the Republic Stronghold, shaking the ground. Meanwhile, Republic cannonfire was rendered harmless, absorbed by the recently erected Separatist shield.

Things really were not looking good.

Within all of the chaos, Obi-Wan's comm beeped.

He took the call.

Admiral Yularen's austere face greeted him.

"General," the Admiral greeted, "We have just received a message from General Yoda. "

"What is it?"

"General Yoda says that he's calling you back from the front lines for a different mission. Since he called you away from the front lines, he will also provide you with reinforcements for the ground assault here in compensation."

"Huh. Well, that's unexpected." The Jedi Master replied, "Did Master Yoda say what this mission was?"

"No, sir, but he did say that he was delivering a messenger. "

"A messenger?"

"Yes, sir."

"Did he say who he was sending?"

"No, sir."

Well then, Obi-Wan thought, I guess I'll just have to wait and see who it is…

"Thank you, Admiral. I'll be there shortly."

"I'm sending a shuttle down to pick you up now. Over and out."

The hologram of the Admiral disappeared.

"Well then, gentlemen. I suppose that I have to leave."

"Don't worry, sir. I'll keep the boys in line," Cody piped in, smirking lightly.

"See to it that you do, Cody. I have a very bad feeling about this…"

* * *

Stealing the huttlet from Jabba's stronghold was easy. Dealing with the repulsive slug, however, was a different story.

Vader paced around the cockpit of the ship, restless about a past he was determined to forget. Of course his master had to assign him to this mission! And the best thing about it all was that Sidious had ordered him to keep the kriffing huttlet alive! The nerve of that despicable man, and his mind games!

Truth be told, Vader had always hated his master. Sure, he respected the man. How could he not? Who else would be able to manipulate the galaxy the way his master did, while keeping themselves off of the radar? Sidious's manipulations seemed almost effortless to the man, although Vader knew otherwise. He had felt the gears turning in his master's mind while the Sith master was devising additions to his grand plan. A plan that Vader was still only somewhat privy to, despite being one of his master's closest confidants.

What Sidious, didn't know, however was that he had plans of his own. The Sith apprentice was destined to overthrow his master, after all.

For now, though, that would have to wait. He had a mission to complete, and he could not fail. To risk failure was to risk death, and Vader would not let that entitled snob Dooku take his place.

Vader shuddered at the thought.

It was bad enough that Dooku was working for the Sith, and even worse that Sidious had given the aristocratic man the position that Vader knew he had been originally meant to have. Now Sidious had decided to lend him to Dooku to use, a new weapon in his arsenal, but Vader knew better. He was the true Sith apprentice, and he only answered to Sidious, and himself. He was a slave no more.

The door to the cockpit opened, snapping him out of his thoughts. Dooku's pet assassin strode in, her lavender skin illuminated by the stark light of hyperspace. He would have had no need of her talents to complete his mission, but Dooku had ordered Ventress to accompany him anyway. No doubt he wanted to keep an eye on Vader.

"Everything is going according to plan," Ventress said in her raspy voice, "The Chancellor and his Jedi lap dogs will have taken our bait by now."

Vader smirked under his mask. He hoped his master would give the Jedi a good show, as planned.

"Good," the Sith apprentice replied. "Let the fun begin."

* * *

 **Hello there! What did you think of this story so far? Please Review!**


	2. Chapter 2

Sheev Palpatine loved power. He loved the feeling of having the galaxy at his fingertips, pulling the strings and manipulating it to his design. Most of all, he loved having everything go according to plan. The best feeling in the galaxy was when one of his plans went off without a hitch, propelling him even closer to the seat of galactic power. It had taken deliberate thinking and planning to get to where he was, and it would take even more thought to get him where he wanted to go.

He would be the most powerful being in the Galaxy, and the Jedi would never see it coming. The Sith would rise again, stronger than ever, and the Jedi would fall, cursed with their own misfortune.

The Sith would get their long-awaited revenge. Soon.

Ah! He could sense the Jedi fools heading towards his office now, at the Chancellor's desperate summons. They had agreed to meet with him in private to hear his request, as planned. The Chancellor didn't really need to meet with them in private, he just wanted to be able to feel the cogs turn oh so slowly in the Jedi's minds. He always got a kick out of that.

Time to go back to being the kindly, naive Chancellor the Jedi knew.

Chancellor Palpatine smiled at the window, and then turned around, ready to accommodate his visitors.

* * *

The door slid open, revealing Yoda and Mace Windu. The Jedi masters looked calm and serene, but the force betrayed their emotions. Sidious could sense their contempt and distrust of him, and their arrogance. They didn't believe that anyone would be able to see through their facades, or that anyone would be able to topple them from their seat of power. Corruption at its finest.

 _Fools. Weren't they the ones who alerted the Chancellor to the threat of the Sith after the blockade of Naboo?_

Yoda spoke first, interrupting the Chancellor's ruminations. "Greetings, Chancellor. Here to hear your request, we are."

Sidious smiled a kindly smile at his visitors, masking his irritation.

"Greetings, masters. Yesterday, I received an urgent message from Jabba the Hutt, asking for our help on an urgent mission. A few days ago, his son Rotta was kidnapped from Jabba's stronghold on Tatooine. Jabba, being the suspicious creature he is, does not trust any of his bounty hunters to find his son. Instead, he asked for the best of the best, and I promised him that. Will you be able to send some Jedi to find Jabba's dear, kidnapped son?"

Sidious could sense Windu's annoyance at his suggestion almost immediately. He frowned internally. Windu always was a pain. He'd have to tell Vader to leave Windu to him once the deed was done. He would enjoy killing him. Preferably slowly.

Windu then decided that it was a good time to voice his irritation. "Your pardon, Chancellor, but why should we lend our services to the outer rim? The Jedi are busy enough dealing with the Separatists in civilized space. We have no one left to send."

Sidious almost groaned, but maintained his politician's facade. He rolled his eyes internally. The Sith master was going to enjoy the day when he could hack Mace Windu into pieces.

Time to play his trump card.

"Well, Master Windu, Jabba also did hint that if the Jedi didn't go, he would send the Separatists. If they got the favor of the Hutts, they would be able to glean the coordinates to the Hutt's hyperspace routes without any difficulty, expanding their reach. And we wouldn't want that, would we?"

Master Windu glared and looked at his feet. The Chancellor smiled at him, triumphant. He had won this round.

Windu looked at his boots, cowed by Palpatine's superior logic. Yoda looked at Windu, having decided that arguing against the Chancellor was no use.

"Send two Jedi, we will," responded the small, green Jedi. "Returned soon, Jabba's son will be."

Palpatine smiled, pleased. Everything was going to plan.

"Follow me gentlemen," he said, beckoning the Jedi towards the door with his hand, "I will show you the way out."

* * *

The shuttle's comm rang loudly, startling Ahsoka out of her nap.

 _Ugh,_ she thought, _why now? I don't land for another 2 hours! Isn't only 1000 or something?_

Ahsoka looked at the ship's clock. The bright display read 1200, which meant her alarm didn't wake her up on time. As usual.

 _Sithspit! I'm already there, and I didn't even notice!_

The comm's insistent beeping continued. Ahsoka shot out of the chair she had napped in with speed only a Jedi possessed, and answered.

The comm lit up, projecting the image of a regal-looking officer. His rank pin signified that he was an admiral. At least, that was what Ahsoka thought. She had always paid more attention in her combat classes than her general ones.

"Incoming Republic Shuttle, this is the Negotiator. Please state your business and cargo."

Ahsoka took a deep breath. The Negotiator was Master Kenobi's ship, so she would probably be working with this admiral quite often. Now was not the time to make a bad first impression.

She cleared her throat nervously.

"Hello! I'm Ahsoka Tano… I was sent by Master Yoda."

 _Nice job sounding official, Ahsoka. Nice._

The Admiral nodded, and then continued speaking.

"Very well. You are clear to land."

Ahsoka thanked the admiral, and then shut off the comm.

 _Gee, way to make a good first impression, Ahsoka. Well, I hope that Master Kenobi doesn't get too mad at me!_

* * *

A clone trooper named Boil led Ahsoka to the Negotiator's bridge. He didn't introduce himself, but Ahsoka had asked his name out of friendliness. If she was going to stay here, she should at least make some friends, right?

Plus, chatting with Boil kept her from thinking about the upcoming meeting with Master Kenobi. Even if the chatting was mostly one-sided.

And then there was Master Kenobi.

Ahsoka had gone over what she knew about Master Kenobi before her nap. She had heard that he had never taken a padawan before her, which was surprising, given that he had been a Jedi knight for over a decade. He must have decided to wait a while before he took a student, instead of jumping right in like most young Jedi Knights.

She had also heard rumors that Kenobi was the first Jedi in over one thousand years to take down a Sith lord. Ahsoka was definitely going to have to ask him for the story behind that one at some point. That must have been epic.

The soft sound of the lift door opening interrupted her thoughts.

And then Ahsoka saw the bridge.

Clone troopers and the occasional republic officer scurried around, carrying datapads across the bridge or doing other business for their superiors. The dimly-lit space almost seemed alive with the amount of people hustling and bustling about.

Ahsoka looked around in wonder, soaking in the sights and sounds of the bridge. It was nothing at all like the Jedi Temple in which she had grown up in, which was demure and silent, not bustling and busy.

 _This. Is. So. COOL!_

As she walked to the front of the bridge, she wondered what it would be like to work on the bridge.

She heard a soft chuckle from in front of her.

Master Kenobi walked up to her. As a Jedi master, he must have been able to sense her emotions from across the bridge.

The Jedi master stopped chuckling, and smiled. Then he turned to Ahsoka.

"So, you are the messenger Master Yoda sent us?"

Ahsoka snapped to attention. She really had to get better at not spacing out. After all, spacing out in the middle of a battle could mean a nasty death from the end of a Battle Droid's blaster, and that wouldn't be very good.

"Yes, sir! Padawan Ahsoka Tano, at your service!"

Master Kenobi's eyebrows shot up slightly, and then his face settled into a look of realization. He bowed in respect, and then straightened up.

"Ah, you must be the Padawan I requested quite a while ago! Well, as I'm sure you already know, I'm Obi-Wan Kenobi, your new master. I look forward to working with you."

Ahsoka bowed back to her master.

"As do I," she replied, trying to sound as professional as possible. She straightened up, smiling.

Master Kenobi smiled at her, and then cut to the chase.

"So, young one, what did Master Yoda tell you?"

Ahsoka looked away. "Master Yoda only told me to tell you that he'd send you a message when I arrived here…"

Kenobi nodded. "I see, so the message should be coming in any minute now."

Ahsoka nodded, looking away. Master Kenobi wasn't anywhere near as bad as she thought he would be. She hoped that they would be able to work well together, especially after he discovered some of her... undesirable quirks.

The ships comm beeped with an incoming call. A few seconds later, Admiral Yularen ushered Obi-Wan to the briefing room, with Ahsoka following along. The glowing hologram of Yoda awaited them.

"Greetings, Master Kenobi, Padawan Tano. Urgent business, this is."

Obi-Wan nodded. "What is your message for us, master?"

"Sending you on a new mission, I am. Called out for a different mission, you were, but kidnapped, Jabba the Hutt's son has been. Unknown, the culprit is. Find him, you must."

"Apologies, Master, but shouldn't Bounty Hunters be finding Jabba's son, not us?"

Ahsoka looked at her new master, wondering why he had asked that question. After all, Yoda had just said that this mission was important. If Yoda had said so, then it must be.

"Distrusts his court after the kidnapping, Jabba does."

"Ah, I understand." Kenobi replied.

Yoda coughed, annoyed at being interrupted. "Continuing on, I will be."

The wizened Jedi master cleared his throat, and then continued.

"Also, Hyperspace routes we may gain if we recover the huttlet. Very good for escape and transport in the future, these will be. Crucial these will be for winning the war."

Kenobi stroked his beard, deep in thought, before turning back to Yoda.

"Do you have any other orders for us?"

"Retreat from Christophsis, you should. Send Master Fisto and his troops in your stead, I will."

"Very well. Thank you, Master. I will make the preparations to retreat as soon as possible."

Yoda nodded. "May the force be with you," he said.

"And you, Master."

The hologram of Yoda faded, leaving only Obi-Wan and Ahsoka in the briefing room.

Kenobi broke the silence.

"Well then, shall we get started?"

Ahsoka nodded, eager to start her first mission.

* * *

 **Hey! Sorry for taking so long to update! I don't really have a schedule, but I've decided that I'm going to update every 2-3 weeks. Hopefully sooner, but writer's block is getting to be a real pain.**

 **Anyway, please favorite, follow, and review!**


	3. Chapter 3

In the silence of a monastery on Teth, Darth Vader dreamt.

He dreamt of a boy long gone, stripped away by years of harsh training to become the man he was now. He dreamt of hot sand, of endless days in the desert heat. The boy's, _his_ , hands were covered in machine oil, as they often were back then. He was working in Watto's shop, refurbishing old and broken parts his master intended to resell to his customers. The slave boy could feel the heat upon his back as he worked, even though he was under the eaves of Watto's shop. His mother was humming a familiar tune while she swept up the shop, smiling despite their situation.

Even though the Skywalkers were slaves, as many were on Tatooine and other Hutt worlds, they were somewhat content. They had each other, and that was all that mattered to them. Some slaves didn't even have that.

There are always people who have less in life, Ani, he remembered his mother saying, so we should enjoy what we have, or we'll soon find ourselves with nothing left.

Vader remembered that day in the shop as if it was yesterday. It was the day he had been separated from his mother, forcibly taken from her by a hooded stranger. He had been bought from Watto at the price of a mere 15,000 peggats. A price that was less than the cost of a Hyperdrive.

The boy had been separated from his mother, and probably would never be able to see her again. Why should he enjoy what little he had if he couldn't see his mother's smiling face anymore? Now, the Skywalkers had been separated, and what they had was reduced to nothing.

The boy became angry. Angry at Watto for letting the stranger purchase him. Angry at the stranger for buying him. Angry at his new owner for separating him from his mother.

The stranger would soon teach the young boy a way to channel that anger. That young boy would become far greater than he would ever have imagined, and far worse.

* * *

Darth Vader's slumber was interrupted by the loud, obnoxious sound of crying.

What's wailing like that? I'm pretty sure that Ventress and I should be the only beings at this base...

The he remembered the Huttlet.

Kriff, Vader thought. Just… kriff. First my dream, now this!

He didn't want any reminders of his distant past, especially now. Although Sidious taught him to channel his anger, the sith master didn't want his apprentice to become sidetracked from his missions by thoughts of the past, and for all their disagreements, Vader agreed with his master. The past was painful territory, and was to be avoided.

Vader took a deep breath. In, out. In, out. He channeled his anger in the way Sidious had trained him to, years and years ago, and centered himself. He was a weapon, made for the Sith to use, and he had no time for petty emotions such as sadness.

Vader picked up his mask, and caught sight of the reflection of an unfamiliar face looking back at him. Long blonde hair, gaunt cheeks, and bright yellow eyes stared at him with an eerie curiosity. It looked nothing like the young boy who had been separated from his mother so long ago.

Vader stared at his reflection, perplexed. When had been the last time he saw his reflection? He wasn't even allowed to shave in front of a mirror. Sidious had drilled into him that arrogance was for the weak, those not strong enough to know where their limits were. Like the Jedi, fools that they were. Their arrogance was to be their downfall.

Yellow eyes kept staring at him.

Vader put on his mask, and left the monastery room that he had decided to use as a bedroom.

It was time to put away his past once and for all.

Which meant that he probably had to go and shut up a certain Huttlet before Ventress made them compromise the mission by slicing the damn slug into two.

* * *

Ahsoka stood awkwardly next to her new master, shifting from foot to foot in impatience. Just how long were mission preparations supposed to last, anyway?

"Patience, young one. We'll be able to leave soon."

Ahsoka jolted, surprised by her master's statement. She had been staying with Master Kenobi for a few days now, but she hadn't yet adjusted to his habit of sensing her emotions and adding his input at random.

Oh well. She would learn to adjust sooner or later. Preferably sooner. It was really starting to irk her a little bit.

Ahsoka pouted at the floor, bored out of her skull.

"Master, does mission prep usually take this long?"

"Well, young padawan, there is much to do. The evacuation from Christophsis has gone rather smoothly, yet I don't believe that I can let all of my troops retreat. Master Fisto could probably use some soldiers who know what's going on there…" Master Kenobi trailed off, lost in thought.

"Huh," Ahsoka mused, looking at her Master. "I didn't realize that it was all so complicated."

"War is a complicated business, Padawan. Otherwise this war would be over already, and peace would be restored to the Galaxy."

Ahsoka sighed, and looked at her boots.

"I guess so, Master."

Obi-Wan and Ahsoka stood in silence, watching clone troopers bustle about the docking bay. While General Kenobi had been busy overseeing the beginning of the evacuation of his troops, Ahsoka and Admiral Yularen were tracking down leads on Rotta the Huttlet, Jabba the Hutt's young son. They had quickly tracked his kidnapper's ship to a planet called Teth, which was remote except for an empty, decrepit monastery. A perfect hiding spot for crazy Hutt-nappers.

The only thing of concern was that it seemed almost too easy to find.

"Master?"

"Yes?"

"Admiral Yularen and I found Rotta's location a little too fast… do you think this is a trap?"

The Jedi master stroked his beard for a moment, deep in thought, and then responded to his apprentice.

"Well, young Padawan, what are your instincts telling you?"

"Hm… well they're giving me sort of a mixed reaction about all this. What do your instincts tell you, Master?"

"Well, my instincts tell me to keep moving forward. If this is a trap, so be it. We'll deal with it when the time comes."

Ahsoka nodded, satisfied with her Master's reasoning.

A yellow-armored clone trooper ran up to Master and Apprentice, and saluted.

"General Kenobi, Sir! Retreat from Christophsis has been completed, and the Negotiator will be en route to Planet Teth as soon as you give the Okay for Hyperspace!"

"Aha! Well then, do tell Admiral Yularen to commence the Hyperdrives, so that we may be on our way."

"Sir, yes sir!"

The Clone saluted again, and then ran back towards the bridge, intent on delivering the General's message.

Master Kenobi turned towards his Padawan.

"Well, Padawan, are you ready?"

Ahsoka nodded, and then feigned a salute. "Sir, Yes, Sir!"

* * *

 **3/7/18: Hello there! If you have read previous chapters of this story when they were first published, I would suggest going back and re-reading them. Some things may have been tweaked a bit during my edits, so...**

 **Thank you so, so much for all of the Faves, Follows, and Reviews! I love you guys!**

 **~Extra**


	4. Chapter 4: Parts 1 and 2

**Here's the finished chapter, with parts 1 and 2!**

 **Warning in this chapter for graphic violence. I mean it, I get way too in-depth when writing battle scenes.**

 **(I need to stop reading so much Berserk. Jesus.)**

 **Thanks for bearing with me and my laziness guys. I love y'all!**

* * *

"Ventress, can you shut this kriffing slug up?" Vader said, holding said slug in his arms. Rotta the Huttlet was wailing horribly, and that wailing was doing nothing to help the Sith apprentice's mood. The worst thing was that no matter what Vader did to try to assuage the Huttlet, Rotta just _wouldn't. Stop. Crying._

"Do it yourself," Ventress said haughtily over the comm, "I'm busy."

Vader rolled his eyes behind his mask.

"With what? There's nothing to do here except sit around and make sure this damn slug keeps quiet! You'd think that the Jedi would be here already, with the amount of noise this thing is making!"

Ventress sighed.

"Haven't you heard of traps and defenses by now, Vader?"

Vader glared, annoyed at Ventress's taunt.

"Your point, Ventress?"

"If those pesky Jedi slime manage to come and find us, we'll need to make it hard to for them to get us! You know, like any sane being would do if Jedi were coming after them!"

"Well, if they somehow don't manage to find us, I'd be quite disappointed in them. It's hard to get a good opponent around these parts, and I've been feeling a little bit pesky lately."

Vader smirked, and cracked his knuckles. He could use a good fight, after all that he'd been forced to go through on this mission.

"Hmph!" Ventress said, and then turned back to whatever she was doing.

The comm abruptly cut out, leaving Vader to deal with the shrieking Huttlet in his arms by himself.

 _Kriffing force-forsaken mission. Let's just hope the slug does its job and brings some Jedi over. Then maybe Sidious won't pair me with Dooku's lapdog on the next mission!_

* * *

Wind whipped around the inhabitants of the clone carrier, jedi cloaks buffeting in the current. The soldiers and their cloaked generals stood ready for the assault.

"Alright men!" General Kenobi yelled over the wind, "It's time to go!"

The clone carrier veered down sharply towards a cliff, which had been designated as the dropping point. The clones grabbed onto tethers, and jumped into the wilderness surrounding the cliff's base.

The two jedi shed their cloaks and jumped off of the carrier, landing perfectly on the ground. Humming lightsabers seemingly appeared in their grasps, glowing bright against Teth's jungle fog.

The sound of blasterfire echoed off of the cliff. Two yellow-armored clones fell, clutching the burning wounds in their chests.

Ahsoka grimaced.

The clanking sound of battle droids was becoming more and more audible over the chirping of the jungle fauna.

Ahsoka almost jumped up and down with her excitement. Here was her chance to prove herself!

"Go, go!" Commader Cody shouted. The clone troops scattered, running straight into the fray with their blasters drawn. Ahsoka smirked and made to follow after them, eager to cut down her first battle droids.

"Padawan, wait!" A voice cried. A hand caught her shoulder, and she turned around, lightsaber blazing. Her blow was caught by another lightsaber, this one a glowing blade of blue instead of a dewy green.

Ahsoka, upon realizing who she attacked, sheathed her lightsaber and put it back on her belt. The young apprentice looked at the ground, ashamed.

"Master Kenobi!"

General Kenobi sighed tiredly, and then put his head in his hands.

"Young padawan," He said, looking back at his apprentice, "I'm sure you should know now that running straight into the fray is a rather bad idea without backup."

"Yes, master," Ahsoka said quietly. "Sorry, master."

"It's quite alright, Ahsoka, just make sure not to do it again. Now, shall we?"

Ahsoka smirked, and then nodded. She drew her lightsaber again, and then ran after her master.

* * *

Vader felt the battle in the force before the droid had reported it to him.

 _Well then, he thought, I guess this abysmal day has finally gotten a bit better._

Then his comm rang, and his day got worse. Only one of his stupid droid soldiers, kindly gifted to him by Dooku, would bother calling. Ventress was too prideful to bother him with trivial matters.

He hated those droids. As soon as he got the chance, he was going to modify as many of his troops as he could get his hands on. The young sith couldn't believe that the separatist would work with such stupid droids!

Unless Sidious made sure they had to.

Damn that old man.

Vader sighed, and picked up the comm.

"Lord Vader! It seems as if the Republic has found us! We are under attack at the cliff -"

Then the droid messenger fell over, felled by an enemy blaster.

The comm shut off.

 _Good riddance,_ Vader thought.

He smirked, and stood up, lightsaber in hand.

Time for some action.

* * *

Blaster fire filled the air. Humming lightsabers moved fluidly, blocking bolts with precision and deflecting them back towards their opponents. Clones and Droids alike fell, Corpses and scrap metal littering the ground.

A strange mechanical roar joined the cacophony, accompanied by the screams of dying men. The younger jedi stopped running and turned towards the mayhem, shocked by the new noise.

This was her first battle. These were the first dying-screams of war she would hear, out of many.

The roar stopped, probably silenced by the men. That was good at least.

"Ahsoka!" The elder jedi called, running past her, "Don't get distracted!"

More dying-screams, louder this time. Closer.

Ahsoka ran and caught up with her master, blocking blaster bolts all the while.

"But master!" Ahsoka yelled to the elder jedi, "Shouldn't we be helping our men? Didn't you hear that?"

A blaster bolt whizzed by Obi-Wan, almost hitting him square in the face. He dodged it skillfully, aided by the power of the force and years of experience.

"The men will manage, Ahsoka," He yelled back, "Our job is to get to the castle and recover the huttlet!"

Ahsoka knew that.

She flinched, and ducked to avoid a shot.

"But master! Didn't you hear the screams? They're dying out there!"

Obi-Wan's saber moved in a graceful arc, cutting the battle droid in front of him into two as he ran past. Machine oil splattered all over his robes, a spoil of war from the scrap in front of him.

"Focus on the now, Ahsoka. Remember the plan!"

Ahsoka remembered the plan quite well, as the troops sent down here had all been briefed on it before being sent to this place.

But the men, her men, were dying. As a general, shouldn't she have a responsibility to make sure as many get out alive as possible?

The screams of dying men rang through the air again.

Ahsoka ran towards them.

* * *

Vader hacked through the enemy lines skillfully, with precision. These clones had never stood a chance against the might and power of the dark side.

And now they never would.

He fancied himself a merciful man. At least a quick lightsaber slice to the right spot would hurt less in the long run than a painful, slow death from a blaster wound.

Vader had seen men die slowly from blaster wounds before, when he was a little boy. Back in the days he didn't like to remember. Some owners with disobedient slaves had thought it a wise idea to end their slaves then and there, instead of wasting time and effort on "reconditioning" them.

A clone's battle cry snapped him out of his thoughts.

Vader shook his head. He was getting off task again.

The battle cry was soon silenced.

Vader slipped back into the methodical lull of slashing and hacking, stabbing and thrusting. Bodies fell to the ground around him, covering any trace of plant life that had been there.

Soon, the field he was in was littered with corpses of both the unlucky men he had killed and the unlucky droids of his that had been there before he had arrived.

He sensed a presence watching him, disgust evident in the force.

The force hovered around this being, surrounding her in a way he had only seen the Force surround...

 _A Jedi!_

* * *

The screams of dying men. Blaster fire. The crunching sound of the leaves under her boots as she ran. The hum of the lightsaber.

The sound of metal parts falling to the ground after she sliced through droid after droid. It wasn't fair, that the separatists could have an immeasurable army at their disposal and not have to worry about their men, not have to be haunted by the last breaths of their soldiers, of how they failed them…

She stopped running.

She had stumbled upon a field of corpses, man and droid alike. Scattered mechanical bits and cauterized body parts lay upon the forest floor, plain as the eye could see.

Ahsoka shut off her lightsaber and leaned onto a nearby tree, her stomach turning at the sight of such carnage.

And then she noticed the man.

Tall and garbed in black, with a skull-like mask to boot, he almost looked like a droid. But the red lightsaber in his hand and the force presence around him betrayed his droid-like appearance.

He was a Sith.

This man had done this. This sith had killed her men and created this carnage.

Ahsoka heaved herself off of the tree, her nausea being replaced by a different type of disgust. Disgust toward the mysterious black-clad man, who had the gall to stand in the field of corpses that he had just created.

This droid-like man, this _monster_ , had to be stopped.

And she would be the one to stop him.

* * *

 **Chapter 4: In which Vader finally got his butt out of his room and started to kick some behind.**

 **God this was fun to write. Especially the violent bits, and the parts were Vader is the evil badass he is. That was fun.**

 **Honestly, I had been planning to write the part where Vader finally meets Obi-Wan and Ahsoka(or just one of them) a bit later in the story, but then I wrote the part where Ahsoka arrives in the clearing and then thought "Well what if Vader was the reason that the clearing was covered in corpses?"**

 **Sorry. I'm fangirling about my own story.**

 **Cheers!**


	5. Chapter 5

A child. That's all the Jedi a standing in front of him was, despite the power he has sensed earlier. Were the Jedi really so desperate as to send children to the front lines?

Astounding. He almost pitied them.

But not quite.

The Jedi youngling, or Padawan, as his master had told that they were called, charged at him, swiping ferociously at him. However, despite her determination, her blows were sloppy and easily dodged.

Vader sidestepped the youngling's blows easily, a smirk hidden under his mask. This was too all too easy.

The youngling fell back, panting from exertion. It was a shame that the Jedi had trained their padawans so shoddily, Vader thought. He was sure that he was better than this sad excuse of a Jedi apprentice when he was about her age.

This was going to be too easy for him to finish.

And yet, he had to finish this. Even if he frowned upon killing mere children. Even if he had done worse before, and would probably do worse again.

He drew his lightsaber and got into a waiting stance.

This round, he wouldn't be so nice to his opponent.

* * *

Ahsoka panted, winded from her attack. It was almost as if she had been attacking a brick wall! The kriffing Sith didn't even bother attacking her back, he just dodged and evaded like some sort of crazy Rancor or Nexu.

She was seriously outclassed.

I'm going to die on my first mission away from the temple, Ahsoka thought wryly . Fantastic!

She needed a distraction if she was going to leave this battle alive.

And she was pretty kriffing good at distracting.

"Hey, masky!" She taunted, panting in between words, "what's with the getup? Is that mask supposed to be scary or something?"

The Sith lord, instead of being offended, merely laughed.

Ahsoka fumed. This wasn't working at all. Yet, despite that, she couldn't stop now.

A deep, distorted voice filtered out of the Sith Lord's skeletal-looking mask, cutting off her negative train of thought.

"Shouldn't you be attacking me, youngling?"

"Youngling?" Ahsoka yelled, indignant. "That's padawan to you, Sith scum!"

The Sith lord chuckled at her antics once again, putting his lightsaber back on his belt. He must have decided that Ahsoka posed no threat.

She couldn't wait to prove him wrong.

"You talk an awful lot for a Jedi," the distorted voice of the Sith Lord replied, "If I were you, I would have finished off my opponent by now."

Ahsoka huffed and glared.

"I'm glad I'm not you, then."

She could feel the Sith's smirk from behind his mask.

"Well then, Jedi," he replied, "In that case, I'm glad you're not me either."

Ahsoka smirked, a little bit enthused.

Her distraction was working perfectly.

"So then, Mister High and Mighty Sith Lord," she asked, "Why haven't you killed me yet?"

The Sith tilted his head to the side, entertaining her question.

"This conversation is rather entertaining. I'd hate for it to end, wouldn't you, Child?"

"I'm not so sure about that, you know. Being alive is pretty nice… but.. Wait! Hold up! Child? I'm fourteen, sleemo!"

"Fourteen, already? Huh, the Padawans I end up having to fight just keep getting younger and more and more pitiful -"

Ahsoka activated her lightsabers and charged at the Sith Lord, enraged at his disrespect.

Vader, however, was prepared for her assault. He merely caught her forearms, blocking her attack, and then used the force to sheath her blades.

Ahsoka grunted and strained against Vader's hold, but to no avail.

This wasn't going to work.

Kriff.

Suddenly, something hit her head, and everything went to black.

* * *

Vader was getting a little restless.

He would have thought that this Padawan's master would have shown up sooner, ready to attack him and reclaim their Padawan before he could maim them.

Like all of the other Jedi he had faced.

Did this apprentice's master just not care, or this Padawan seriously run away from her master, disregarding her master's orders and the Jedi code by doing so, just to attack him?

He had a feeling that it was the latter one.

The child had spunk. He'd give her that.

Yet, that was about it. Her dueling was mediocre, and her temper was hazardous.

She'd make a good Sith apprentice if she wanted to, Vader mused, she has the temper. But I'm glad she's not one. I'd hate to have to work with her. Or train her.

Training her? Where had that thought come from?

Vader sighed, and got back to the task on hand.

He really hated to have to do this. But one thing Sidious had taught him was that playing dirty often yielded the best results, and this Padawan would give him the edge needed to win this battle.

Vader sighed, and opened his comm up to a neutral frequency.

"This is Separatist General Darth Vader, speaking to the Jedi in charge of this rescue attempt…"

* * *

"I have captured your Padawan. In exchange for her safe return to you, you will abort your rescue of the Huttlet and leave this system. After you have guaranteed your departure, I will give your Padawan back to you. However, if you continue your rescue attempt, I will not hesitate to make an example of your poor, young apprentice. You have been warned."

Kriff, Obi-Wan thought, standing by the monastery where the Hutt was being kept with his men.

Just Kriff.

"Excuse me General, but what are you going to do about the Commander?"

Obi-Wan started, and turned around to face the voice.

"I mean, sir," Commander Cody continued, "She is your apprentice. You would want to rescue her, wouldn't you?"

Obi-Wan sighed.

"Yes, Cody, I would. But the Sith's demands are hard to ignore. If I were to rescue her, I would put this entire mission at risk."

"Pardon me, General, but if that were one of my brothers being held there, I would do anything to get them out."

The soft sound of a whirring motor began to be audible, signaling the arrival of more Droids.

"Incoming Clankers!" one of Obi-Wan's men yelled, raising his blaster. The other men followed suit.

Obi-Wan drew his lightsaber, prepared to battle.

He needed to end this quickly, lest he put his padawan at any more risk. If all went well, he would be able to rescue the Huttlet and Ahsoka, all in one fell swoop.

But he could worry about that later.

He had droids to slice.


End file.
